2023 Greek legislative election

How do political campaigns target voters?

Methodology

In collaboration with Who Targets Me, we monitored over 300 political advertisers in Greece during the 2023 Greek parliamantary election to better understand how campaigns use different targeting methods made available by Meta. To do this, we used data from the Meta Ad Library, using the new ‘Audience’ data which gives some detail on how pages target their ads.

To better understand the election, we kept only advertisers who:

  1. Advertised in the last 7 days (May 11th - May 17th 2023)
  2. Advertised in the last 30 days (Apr 18th - May 17th 2023)

Note: Meta only provides 7, 30 and 90 days windows for the targeting data in their Ad Library. Meta’s data also lags by a few days. We will update this report as soon as new data is available.

We also include spending data from the Google Transparency Report, however the data on targeting criteria reported here exclusively refers to Meta platforms.

About Us

Alexandros Gotinakos

Predoctoral researcher for the ActEU project at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Interested in comparative political behavior, political psychology, and survey methodology.

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Fabio Votta

Ph.D. candidate in Political Communication at the University of Amsterdam who studies (online) political microtargeting and its usage around the world.

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Who Targets Me

Grassroots activist group advocating for transparency in the digital age by monitoring political adverts on social media and their impact on democracy.

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Topline Statistics

Meta

Daily Spend

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

In total, political parties spend €779,423 and ran 10540 ad copies on Meta in this timeframe.

Number of Advertisers Top Spenders Number of Ads Total Spend

ND

230


1. Νέα Δημοκρατία (€119,108)
2. Kyriakos Mitsotakis (€68,768)
3. Vassilis Kikilias (€13,439)

5,974

€478,444

SYRIZA

165


1. Alexis Tsipras (€62,952)
2. Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Ενωτικό Κοινωνικό Μέτωπο (€26,648)
3. Γιάννης Μαντζουράνης (€11,544)

2,680

€190,748

PASOK

107


1. Νίκος Ανδρουλάκης (€28,753)
2. Mihalis Katrinis (€3,782)
3. Γιώργος Νικητιάδης (€3,268)

1,487

€92,741

EL

26


1. Άγγελος Αγραφιώτης (€2,375)
2. Αθανάσιος Μιχαήλ, Υποψήφιος Βουλευτής Β3' Νοτίου Τομέα Αθηνών (€1,810)
3. Καμπούρης Φίλιππος - Υπ. Βουλευτής Β1 Βόρειου Τομέα Αθηνών - Ελληνική Λύση (€1,256)

234

€10,818

MeRA25

17


1. ΜέΡΑ25 (€3,070)
2. Yanis Varoufakis - Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης (€728)
3. Δημήτριος Τρύφος (€564)

169

€7,300

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

In total, political parties spend €441,261 and ran 5830 ad copies on Meta in this timeframe.

Number of Advertisers Top Spenders Number of Ads Total Spend

ND

198


1. Νέα Δημοκρατία (€98,887)
2. Kyriakos Mitsotakis (€58,158)
3. Niki Kerameus (€7,700)

3,228

€303,696

SYRIZA

145


1. Alexis Tsipras (€18,165)
2. Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Ενωτικό Κοινωνικό Μέτωπο (€10,476)
3. Γιάννης Μαντζουράνης (€7,029)

1,490

€85,031

PASOK

94


1. Νίκος Ανδρουλάκης (€9,639)
2. Mihalis Katrinis (€2,974)
3. Γιώργος Νικητιάδης (€2,308)

853

€42,677

EL

19


1. Άγγελος Αγραφιώτης (€1,012)
2. Ελληνική Λύση (€953)
3. Αθανάσιος Μιχαήλ, Υποψήφιος Βουλευτής Β3' Νοτίου Τομέα Αθηνών (€594)

144

€5,643

MeRA25

15


1. ΜέΡΑ25 (€1,825)
2. Yanis Varoufakis - Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης (€598)
3. Δημήτριος Τρύφος (€416)

118

€4,742

Google

For Google platforms, data accessed via the Google Transparency Report provides exact spending on how much money was spent by parties in last 30 and 7 days.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

In total, political parties spend €383,950 and ran 1718 ad copies on Google in this timeframe.

Number of Ads Top Spenders Total Spend

ND

974


1. Nea Demokratia (€144,350)
2. ΠΙΕΡΡΑΚΑΚΗΣ ΚΥΡΙΑΚΟΣ (€14,800)
3. ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΚΥΡΑΝΑΚΗΣ (€9,400)

€229,000

SYRIZA

320


1. ΣΥΝΑΣΠΙΣΜΟΣ ΡΙΖΟΣΠΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑΣ (€110,250)
2. Αθανάσιος Μωραΐτης (€2,550)
3. Μενέλαος Μαλτέζος (€2,500)

€122,750

PASOK

229


1. ΠΑΣΟΚ – Κίνημα Αλλαγής (€7,500)
2. ΕΛΕΝΗ ΜΑΡΙΑ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΑΚΗ (€2,300)
3. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΠΕΤΑΛΩΤΗΣ (€1,950)

€16,450

KKE

72


1. ΚΟΜΜΟΥΝΙΣΤΙΚΟ ΚΟΜΜΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ (€10,950)

€10,950

MeRA25

78


1. ΠΕΤΤΑΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ (€3,400)
2. Ιωάννης Αναστασόπουλος (€650)
3. Γεώργιος Λογιάδης (€250)

€4,400

EL

45


1. Βασιλειάδης Αντώνιος (€400)

€400

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

In total, political parties spend €383,950 and ran 1718 ad copies on Google in this timeframe.

Number of Ads Top Spenders Total Spend

ND

974


1. Nea Demokratia (€144,350)
2. ΠΙΕΡΡΑΚΑΚΗΣ ΚΥΡΙΑΚΟΣ (€14,800)
3. ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΚΥΡΑΝΑΚΗΣ (€9,400)

€229,000

SYRIZA

320


1. ΣΥΝΑΣΠΙΣΜΟΣ ΡΙΖΟΣΠΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑΣ (€110,250)
2. Αθανάσιος Μωραΐτης (€2,550)
3. Μενέλαος Μαλτέζος (€2,500)

€122,750

PASOK

229


1. ΠΑΣΟΚ – Κίνημα Αλλαγής (€7,500)
2. ΕΛΕΝΗ ΜΑΡΙΑ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΑΚΗ (€2,300)
3. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΠΕΤΑΛΩΤΗΣ (€1,950)

€16,450

KKE

72


1. ΚΟΜΜΟΥΝΙΣΤΙΚΟ ΚΟΜΜΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ (€10,950)

€10,950

MeRA25

78


1. ΠΕΤΤΑΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ (€3,400)
2. Ιωάννης Αναστασόπουλος (€650)
3. Γεώργιος Λογιάδης (€250)

€4,400

EL

45


1. Βασιλειάδης Αντώνιος (€400)

€400

Combined Stats

In total, political parties spend €1,163,373 and ran 12258 ad copies on Google and Meta in the last 30 days (of available data).

The graph below shows how spending differed between Meta and Google platforms. In each row on the right hand side, you can see how much in total was spend by each party across both platforms.

Spending per Targeting Criteria

How much did campaigns spend on different targeting methods? The graphs below show spending overall across all parties and by party.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Overall

By Party

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Overall

By Party

Top Targeted (Detailed) Audiences

Here, we show the top targeted audiences for each party for the “detailed” targeting that Meta offers (ranked by amount of Euro spend). Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties targeted people interested in “Books” or “Politics”.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Top Contested Audiences

Here, we show the top most contested audiences, i.e. where all parties have spent considerable amounts of money competing to reach voters with the same interests. Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties targeted people interested in “Books” or “Politics”. In each row on the right hand side, you can see how much in total was spend on that specific target audience.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Geographical Targeting

The graphs below show various kinds of location targeting that parties engaged in on Meta platforms.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Regions

Cities

Cities (Maps)

ND

SYRIZA

PASOK

EL

ΜeRΑ25

Geographical Exclusion

On Meta, political parties can also exclude certain geographical units. The graphs below show which locations were excluded from seeing political advertisements and how much money the parties spend on these ads.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Cities

Age Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by age groups and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Gender Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by gender and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Education Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by education levels and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)

May 11th - May 17th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Job Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by job (sectors) and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Apr 18th - May 17th 2023 (Last 30 days)